Applying for a trademark registration in Indonesia is essential for protecting your brand identity and securing exclusive rights to your products or services in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing markets. With increasing competition and a thriving consumer base, trademark registration ensures that no other party can legally use or imitate your brand, logo, or slogan. It also strengthens your position in legal disputes, builds consumer trust, and enhances your business value, especially when expanding or entering partnerships. Moreover, Indonesia operates under a first-to-file system, meaning the first party to register a trademark owns the rights—making early registration a smart and strategic move for any business.
In this article Lets Move Indonesia will explain the meaning of a Trademark, the advantages of having a Trademark, the process involved in obtaining one and Mega examines one of the most well-known Trademark disputes in Indonesia, which involved global furniture brand IKEA & explains what really happened during this famous spat.
What is a Trademark in Indonesia?
Generally, Trademark registration to protects names, words, slogan and symbols that identify a business and for distinguishes from others brand. Protecting trademarks is an investment in customer goodwill, leading to greater customer satisfaction and higher sales.
Regulation that stipulates Trademark Law in Indonesia
According to the Indonesia’s Regulation, Trademark registration Indonesia is stipulated under the Trademark Law Number 20 Year 2016, the meaning of Trademark is a brand which used on goods traded by someone or some people collectively agreed or legal entity to differentiate with other.
Upon your trademark has been registered, you will be able to use ® symbol and another common symbol associated with trade mark is ™ in order to demonstrate the products and enforceable by law. It also serves as notice to competitors that you are serious about protecting your trademark rights. Registering your trademark grants you protection and the exclusive right to use your trademark in connection to the products and services for which you have registered in a determined country or territory. The trademark application is to be submitted to the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights, Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia.
Advantages of Trademark Registration Indonesia
- Protect against registration of similar marks.
- Discourages others to using similar trademark
- Serves as evidence of the validity and exclusive ownership of Trademark
- Grants the right to use the ® symbol when the mark is used for the goods and services listed in the registration
- To provide facilitating protection of the trademarks as business expands
Process to Register a Trademark in Indonesia
Registering a trademark in Indonesia involves several key steps and legal considerations. To ensure your trademark registration process in Indonesia goes smooth, please mind to follow the right steps like the following:
Filling the Trademark Registration Application form
Start by preparing the trademark application form, which must be completed in Bahasa Indonesia. This form includes your personal or company details, a clear representation of the goods or services you wish to register (such as a logo, slogan, or combination), and any specific colours associated with it.
- To avoid errors or delays, it’s recommended to work with a local intellectual property (IP) consultant.
- Be sure to have the following information ready:
- Full name, address, and nationality of the applicant
- A high-resolution digital file of your trademark (logo or slogan), which serves as the official reference for registration
- Administrative Examination
The Ministry of Law and Human Rights will check whether or not the application will meet the requirements. If the applicant does not meet the requirements, the applicant has an additional 2 months to successfully edit the application.
Application Submission and Payment
Should you finished your preparation, submit your application form along with other required documents. Upon submission, there may be some fees to complete the registration, which will only be issued from the official Directorate of Intellectual Property (DGIP) account.
Publication
After undergoing review process, your Trademark will be published by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights onto their website to see whether there will be any opposition from other companies in Indonesia.
If there is any opposition, the Applicant can issue a counter statement to reject the opposition. If there is no any opposition, the Applicant can continue the process into the next steps.
Examination
If the Ministry of Law and Human Rights refuse the Trademark Registration, the Applicant can respond against the rejection around. After that, the Applicant should be wait around 3 months to get approval or refusal from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
If the registration is approved by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the process can continue to the next stage.
Notification on Issuance of Certificate
The Ministry of Law and Human Rights will give the notification for issuance of Certificate – whether the Certificate will be issued or not.
Issuance of Certificate of Registration
The Trademark Certificate will be issued by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Easier Trademark Registration Process with Consultant in Indonesia: The Smarter Choice to Navigate Your Registration Procedures
Registering a trademark in Indonesia can be a lengthy and complex process, often taking 12 to 24 months from application to approval. Once granted, the trademark is recorded in the WIPO Indonesia database. But before reaching that stage, applicants must go through several steps, including paying fees for a pre-filing search, filing the registration request, and finally securing the official certificate.
What makes it more challenging is the uncertainty: there’s no guarantee the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) will approve the application. If rejected, no refunds are issued, even after months of waiting.
This is where working with a registered Intellectual Property (IP) consultant becomes a game-changer.
The right consultant will help with the research to ensure the availability of your trademark
Avoid potential rejections by conducting a proper pre-filing trademark search. Your consultants will ensure your brand name is legally compliant, and not infringing on existing trademarks.
Enjoy ultimate guide to prepare the requirements for Trademark Registration application in Indonesia
Consultants help you compile and review every required document, ensuring nothing is missed and your application is submitted correctly the first time.
Navigate the correct trademark registration procedures in Indonesia
a consultant guides you through every legal and technical step, minimising delays and improving approval chances.
Validity of your Indonesia Trademark Registration Protection
A registered Trademark can have legal protection for period of 10 years to the date of receipt of the registration of the Trademark concerned. The Trademark can be renewed within 6 (six) months before expiry date of trademark registration. The late filing of renewal application may be filed within 6 (six) months grace period after the expiry date of registration by paying a penalty.
Prohibitions of registering a Trademark
- Contrary to the Ideology of the State, Legislation, Morality, Religion, Public Order.
- Only mention about the products but not mention Class clearly.
- Contain or mislead the public about the origin, quality, type, size, purpose of the goods and/or services, or contains the name of a protected plant variety for goods and/or services.
- Contain information which does not comply with the quality, benefits of goods and/or services.
- Does not have any distinction from others Trademark.
- Common name and/or general public property.
Famous IKEA Trademark Case – What really happened?
There have been a number of Trademark disputes within Indonesia whereby International brands have found themselves fighting with local companies to defend their well-known Trademark, but none in recent years have captured the attention as much as the famous IKEA dispute a few years ago. So, what really happened?
IKEA registered its trademark in Indonesia in 2006 in class 21, covering household and kitchen utensils and in 2010 in class 20, covering furniture. According to the local law and regulations, a trademark can be cancelled if it is not used for at least three consecutive years from the date of registration.
In 2013, PT Ratania Khatulistiwa, an Indonesian company registered its IKEA trademark in the same classes. According to the local company, IKEA is used as an acronym of the following words “Intan Khatulistiwa Esa Abadi,” which refer to rattan, a material that is used in furniture production.
In 2014, the Indonesian company filed an application to the central Jakarta district court, while the first IKEA retail store in Indonesia was under construction. Then, the Central Jakarta District Court as well as the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the PT Ratania Khatulistiwa, ordering IKEA to stop using its own name. IKEA lost the right to use its own name in Indonesia on the ground of non-use.
Supreme Court ruling issued last year only invalidates two IKEA trademarks under class 20 and 21 for furniture products, registered in 2006 and 2010, because they were not used in the three-year window post registration with the Intellectual Property Rights Directorate General.
In conclusion – IKEA lost a trademark case, but IKEA did not lose their right to the IKEA trademark all together. The case at hand only relates to a (small) number of registrations for which IKEA’s opponent an Indonesian rattan company claimed that those registrations were never used within the statutory period of 3 years after registration.
Overall it is important to note that a company’s reputation does not guarantee the owners worldwide legal rights to do as they will. In addition, it is important to ensure that non-use of a Trademark may result in its irrevocable cancellation.
Register Your Trademark Conveniently with Lets Move Indonesia
Mega joined LetsMoveIndonesia in 2018 and has since helped overhaul the working practices in the industry allowing LetsMoveIndonesia become the trendsetters in the market.
Recognised as the Most Ethical Visa & Business Consultancy, Lets Move Indonesia has been the leading business consulting firm in Indonesia since 2016. We aim to be a complete resource for expatriates, giving reliable and professional assistance.
If you would like to protect your business or need help registering your own trademark smoothly, Contact our professional consultant now for a FREE consultation!
